Exploring Lecturers’ Understanding of integrating Psychosocial Support into the College Curriculum

ByPHINDILE M. NXUMALO-MABUZA

Background and context of study• The number of children who are living at risk has taken a sharp incline

recently. • Education is one agent that allows people in adversity to be resilient

(Freire in Smith, 1997;2002). • Reforming the curriculum to address issues of care and support is one

important tasks education systems must employ to address the social challenges that have put children at risk

• The most crucial contribution that education systems can do is to take steps towards protecting the wellbeing of children (Coombe & Kelly, 2001; World Bank, 2013)

• Current literature reports a number of social challenges in Swaziland that impact on children’s wellbeing (National Children Coordination Unit 2011, Swaziland Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan 2007 & Ministry of Health 2010)

• In response to the above highlighted social challenges, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) introduced the Inqaba Schools as Centres of Care and Support (SCCS) policy which embraces the Psychosocial Support Programme.

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Problem statement• To effectively integrate psychosocial support into Swaziland’s

educational system the Ministry of Education and Training in its implementation strategy spearheaded a 3 day workshop to capacitate capacitated nominated lecturers from teacher education institutions in 2010 • At policy level, lecturers were supposed to mainstream PSS but

on the ground there seems to be nothing happening. • The disparity between policy and practice is the reason why this

study seeks to explore lecturers' understanding of mainstreaming PSS into the college curriculum.

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Study Objectives

• The objectives of the study were to: • Establish lecturers understanding of PSS• Find out how teachers perceive the integration/mainstreaming

of PSS into the college curriculum• Explore how lecturers integrate PSS into their respective

subject areas

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literature Review• Literature has been gleaned from the following studies:

• SADC, 2011; Ministry of Education, 2011; REPSSI, 2009; REPSSI, 2011; UNICEF, 2009 on the definition of psychosocial support t• These studies concur that psychosocial support is a range of care and support that

influences both the individual and the social environment in which people live and speaks to the social, physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being of a person

• The goal of psychosocial is reaching psychosocial wellbeing• the approach manifests itself in three domains, the social domain an interpersonal

sphere, the emotional domain that is intrapersonal and skills and knowledge domain evident in the cognitive sphere

• The study will gauge the level of awareness of the three domains by the participants.

• REPSSI 2009 &2011 further state PSS mainstreaming as• The core function of mainstreaming psychosocial support refers to an approach that

diffuses psychosocial support issues in all policies, planning, procedures, programmes, partners, activities, practices and budgeting of the entire organization without isolating departments in the organisation.

• It is from this understanding that this study will explore the lecturers’ understanding of integrating or mainstreaming PSS into the college curriculum.

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Theoretical and Conceptual framework

• The main concepts:• Mainstreaming PSS

• The study is underpinned by Levy’s (1996) Web of Institutionalisation model which has been modified and adapted by REPSSI for purposes of PSS mainstreaming.

• The web has been used in this study as a diagnostic tool to help the researcher in defining the extent to which PSS has been mainstreamed in the college.

• The model discusses four spheres of influence that influence the form and quality of PSS integration

• The first is the organisational/operational sphere • The second is the political or leadership. • Thirdly, it’s the delivery or implementation sphere • Lastly, the constituency/citizen.

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ADVOCACY & COORDINATION

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, CHILDREN AND YOUTH

1. Stakeholder participation

2. Community leadership and

structures3. Boys and girls, women & men, experience and

interpretation of their reality

OPERATIONAL AND

ORGANISATIONAL

1. Procedures2.Staff

development3. Management4. Responsibility

IMPLEMANTATION1.

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP1. Policy alignment &

Planning2. Political leadership

commitment3. Resource

Mobilization and allocation

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Methodology

• Research design• Case study design• Qualitative approach• Interpretivist paradigm

• Selection of participants• Six lecturers• Purposively selected • From different departments• deemed appropriate for the study because they had attended the SCCS

workshop organized by the Ministry of Education and Training

• Data generation methods• Interviews – lecturers ( focused- semi structured)

• Data analysis method• Thematic analysis approach

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Findings• Most participants demonstrated a certain degree of

understanding of what PSS was. • The participants’ responses varied but were all inclined to

supporting the students’ social aspect only• However, some described the role it plays in education instead

of explain what • The data showed some understanding of curriculum

integration though responses could be strengthened however weak knowledge was shown in mainstreaming

• It was apparent that some participants have not integrated PSS while others showed a weak knowledge of the approach as shown in the following responses: 9

Discussion• The understanding of what psychosocial support means and what it

entails was not clearly articulated by participants, which means that the 3-day orientation they received was inadequate.

• Psychosocial support was not viewed as a holistic support that had an effect on five different spheres as argued by Ministry of Education (2011) REPSSI, (2009, 2011) and UNICEF (2009)

• Data indicates that participants do not know how to integrate PSS into their curriculum. This is due to the participants’ lack of understanding about PSS mainstreaming

• Addressing PSS issues haphazardly does not guarantee the sustainability and consistency of an PSS intervention programme.

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Conclusion and recommendations• The study revealed that for the participants, PSS was not related to

the cognitive and emotional domains. This reveals a need to further capacitate lecturers on understanding and mainstreaming psychosocial support.

• The study further revealed a misconception of mainstreaming PSS by participants that it only refers to mainstreaming PSS issues to classroom lessons. There is a need therefore, to make participants understand that PSS is mainstreamed in all spheres from policy, regulations to practices in and out of the classroom.

• There is a need for a baseline study to determine the entry points for an effective psychosocial support mainstreaming at the college.

• This assessment will then necessitate a training programme to fill in gaps identified by lecturers in the study.

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